Verse 4 In this passage, Luke 11:2-4, Jesus prescribes a form; on other occasions, he used extemporaneous prayer. Both are proper modes of addressing the Supreme Being. A form is suitable for occasions of the same kind, often recurring; and the relief which it affords, in respect to intellectual effort, is in many cases needed;--as in the daily devotions of a child, and sometimes in the religious services of a family. It has great advantages, too, as well as disadvantages, as a mode of public worship, on the Sabbath. There are, however, constantly occurring, exigencies in which the soul is urged to express its desires in its own spontaneous language. Both, therefore, are proper modes of prayer; and both are adopted, though in different degrees and proportions, by all denominations of Christians. Matthew 6:9-13 records substantially the same form of prayer as prescribed by our Savior when delivering the sermon on the mount.